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Updated: May 6, 2026

The CYP2D6 Animal Model: How to Induce Autoimmune Hepatitis in Mice
Published on: February 3, 2012
The successful treatment of autoimmune hepatitis with 6-mercaptopurine after failure with azathioprine
D S Pratt1, D P Flavin, M M Kaplan
1Division of Gastroenterology, New England Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Abstract:
Although the treatment of choice for autoimmune hepatitis is glucocorticoids, their side effects make long-term use undesirable. Therefore, other immunosuppressive agents have been used to replace glucocorticoids in the long-term treatment of autoimmune hepatitis, including azathioprine, a purine analogue. It is derived from 6-mercaptopurine, and these two drugs are often used interchangeably. However, these drugs have different toxicity profiles and may have clinically relevant differences in immunosuppressive activity in individual patients. We report 3 patients with autoimmune hepatitis who either could not tolerate or failed to improve on azathioprine but responded well to 6-mercaptopurine.
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